Page 25 of Baby Daddy Boss

I rolled my still-warm cup between my palms and smiled hesitantly when he said nothing.

“Trust me, I don’t miss her,” I said. “I just learned who I didn’t want to be from her.”

“It’s a shame you don’t miss her,” Aldric said, and I looked up surprised. “Everyone deserves to be missed; if you aren’t, it means you must have hurt many people. And to hurt your daughter is such a shame.”

I gritted my teeth and looked down at my coffee, hoping Aldric wouldn’t notice me blinking back my tears. If he did, he didn’t say anything, thankfully.

The rest of the date went on with lighter topics, I learned that he still occasionally tapped out beats on his home drum kit, and he asked me about my favorite fiction authors. We spoke about his recent projects in microbiology research, and I talked about the possibility of joining a cancer research team if I ever became that well-known in the field. We were on our third cup of coffee when I decided to end things, figuring three hours was long enough for my friend to watch Ciro.

“Thanks for inviting me out today. I really enjoyed it,” I said, nodding to the door. “I should probably head out, though. I have a friend watching Ciro and well….”

I shrugged one shoulder helplessly as I slid my coat back over my shoulders and grabbed my bag. However, as I stood, Aldric said something that made me freeze.

“Wait!” his hand landed on my hand for a second. “Let me meet Ciro. Today just confirmed that I want to be a part of your life, and I love you more and more every time I learn something about you.”

I didn’t look up at him; instead, I stood staring down at my bag when it still hung on the chair and shook my head, “I’m sorry, not yet. I think I will soon, just I’m not ready yet.”

I moved to leave, but his hand didn’t let me. Instead, he gently but firmly pulled me back to him, and my body naturally let him, wanting to give in to him. His mouth searched out mine, hungry and frantic in its touch. My free hand dropped my bag and reached up, intending to push him back until his tongue flicked across my lips, and they instead opened on a moan. He instantly took advantage of it to kiss me senselessly, and once I pulled back, my mind was far too gone to even care that people were surrounding us.

“I don’t just want to meet Ciro; I want to be with you. I’m in love with you, and I want to celebrate that. I don’t want to hide it or dance around things anymore.

You deserve more.

I won’t hurt you, I swear, I’ll make youmissme instead,” he whispered against my lips, and finally, I nodded, giving in to the chase and letting myself get caught.

Chapter 21

Aldric

Roseline’sfrienddeservedtheworld for willingly agreeing to watch Ciro for an extended period. I wasn’t about to let go of the woman I loved without burying myself deep within her, not after seeing her moon eyes at the café.

She looked stunning and spunky with those gorgeous, flushed cheeks and wide pupils, begging me to take her there on the table. I didn’t, I couldn’t, and I wasn’t going to let anyone else see how beautiful she was while screaming my name.

So I drove across town like a bat out of hell to my condo. I had no desire to spend a special moment in a car or a hotel. For a split second, I looked at her, the light from her phone illuminating her perfect grin as she typed, giggling.

I groaned to catch her attention. “You girls and your gossip.” “I’m supposed to tell her all the juicy details later,” Roseline chuckled. “Hey, it’s been years since I’ve had anyone in my life,” she looked over at me. “Let me brag.”I scoffed but smiled proudly, “And going forward, I will be the only man in your life.”

“Well, you have to compete with Ciro,” she corrected.

“I have absolutelynohope,” I threw my head back in laughter.

Roseline joined in. If she felt anything like me, she was flying high. Our hands found their way to each other across the middle armrests, and I did everything I could to not let go. I squeezed her fingers lightly, and my smile widened when she returned the gesture.

There was a simmering warmth between us, the lust and desire underneath it all still ran strong, but this was different from all our other times. It wasn’t all heat. There was more love and a desperate need to express that; I wanted to show her how I felt about her. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and sink into her while my lips left little room for breath.

I wanted everything, her body, mind, and heart. If she would give it to me, I’d make sure she never regretted it.

I pulled up to my building with that thought, singing loudly. Please don’t make Roseline regret this. We were done with regret. I turned to her, meeting her eyes as I brought her fingers to my mouth and slowly closed my lips around her wrist. I never took my gaze from hers as my tongue lightly flicked the inside of her wrist against the delicate skin protecting her pulse.

Her breath hitched, and the warmth from earlier spilled into a cyclone of fire, circling us until it snatched our oxygen away and made my pants tighten. I gently pushed the sleeve of her jacket up her arm, and my fingers lingered lovingly against her elbow. I pulled her to me, and while holding her captive, I kissed along the underside of her arm until her sleeve stopped me from going further.

Finally seeming to have had enough of my teasing, her mouth found mine, and I met hers with such ease it was like I was coming home. I took control of the kiss, guiding her head where I wanted it while my tongue rolled into her mouth and stroked her deeply. She was quivering beneath me, moaning as she met me move for move. Her fingers wound their way into my hair, tugging lightly, showing her my uncontrollable desire to be connected to me, to take me deeper, to take all I could give.

“Upstairs?” I muttered between gasps.

“Please, god,yes!” she cried as if she thought I’d never ask, and I laughed before stepping out and around to where her door waited to be opened.

I nearly picked her up when she took her time, despite her enthusiastic response to gather her bag, yet soon enough, she was outside the jeep, and I was grabbing her hand in mine to steal another short but deep kiss.

---